3 girls ‘raped’ in 3 districts

Three girls have allegedly been raped in Cumilla, Moulvibazar and Rajshahi since Monday.

In Cumilla’s Burichang upazila, a fourth-grader was allegedly raped by a truck driver on Monday afternoon.

The accused Shah Alam, 40, lured the girl with money and took her to a graveyard in the upazila’s Indraboti area and raped her, said police.

Hearing her scream, locals rescued the girl and held the accused. Later, Shah Alam was handed over to police.

Anwarul Haque, officer-in-charge of Burichang Police Station, said the girl was sent to Cumilla Medical College for medical tests.

The victim’s father filed a case with the police station. The accused was sent to jail after placing him before a court.

Meanwhile in Moulvibazar, a 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by six youths in the district’s Kulaura upazila on Monday night.

According to the victim, Sukkur Ali, 30, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver, asked her to visit a Pahela Baishakh on Kulaura     Municipality premises.

Talking to The Daily Star, the victim said she agreed to ride the auto-rickshaw as Sukkur was previously known to her.

The youths recorded the rape and threatened the girl to release on social media if she shares the matter with anyone or denies to get involved in sexual relationship with them as per their desire, the victim added.

Eardous Hasan, officer-in-charge of Kulaura Police Station, said they detained one of the accused following the victim’s statement and were conducting raids in different areas to held rest of the youths.

Aman Ullah, program officer of One Stop Crisis Center at Kulaura Health Complex, said the girl was sexually abused.

Elsewhere in Rajshahi’s Bagmara upazila, a 12-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her cousin on Monday night.

The accused Al Amin, 20, took the girl to an abandoned house near their hime and raped the girl. Hearing her scream, locals rescued the girl and held Al Amin. Later, he was handed over to police, Ataur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Bagmara Police Station.

Meanwhile in Chattogram, a 16-year-old garment worker alleged that a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver had been raping her for a week by promising marriage.

The victim also alleged that the family members of the accused physically tortured her.

The incident came to notice after police arrested the accused Nizam and five of his family members on Monday night.

Our Cumilla, Moulvibazar, Rajshahi and Chattogram correspondents contributed to the report.